DOUBLE LECTURE AND AFTERNOON TEA: Inspiring Female Authors. Jane Austen and Fanny Burney with Susannah Fullerton

Double Lecture Program and Afternoon Tea

Lecture 1: ‘Jane Austen: Her Life and Works’
Celebrate Jane Austen’s 250^th birthday in 2025 by learning more about her life, the six extraordinary novels she wrote, and the incredible literary legacy she has left the world. Susannah Fullerton shares her passion for her favourite writer and discusses why her works endure through the centuries.

Lecture 2: ‘Frances Burney: Pioneer writer and Remarkable Woman’
Frances Burney’s novels are not much read today, and her plays rarely performed, but her life story is an amazing one, as she was always where the action was throughout the reign of King George III. She was a lady in waiting at court when the King went mad, she was in France when Napoleon escaped from Elba, and she was in Brussels at the time of Waterloo. Learn more about her impact on the history of the novel and her fascinating life.

Susannah Fullerton, OAM FRS, has been President of the Jane Austen Society of Australia for over 25 years. She is also a Patron of the Kipling Society of Australia, and is a founding member of the NSW Dickens Society and of the Australian Bronte Association.

Susannah is one of Australia’s best-known speakers on classic novels. She lectures regularly at the Art Gallery of NSW, the State Library of NSW, at events around Australia and overseas. She is a registered speaker for Arts National. She publishes a popular monthly newsletter, ‘Notes from a Book Addict’.

Her books include Jane Austen and Crime (the first ever study of crimes such as duelling, poaching, gambling, theft and even murder in the writings of Jane Austen), Brief Encounters: Literary Travellers in Australia (Picador, Australia, 2009), A Dance with Jane Austen: How a Novelist and her Characters went to the Ball (Frances Lincoln, UK, 2012), and Happily Ever After: Celebrating Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (Frances Lincoln, UK, 2013).

Your ticket includes two lectures by our special guest Susannah Fullerton, and an afternoon tea of petit fours and tea or Market Lane coffee, served on our Wedgwood fine bone china, and time to browse our exclusive range of books, gifts, and homewares at TJC Emporium.

These lectures are presented on-site at The Johnston Collection. Please see your ticket for details. NOTE: Tickets for this event do not include access to our exhibition-house, Fairhall. Guided tours of the current exhibition can be booked separately.

This event is supported by The Colin Holden Charitable Trust.

Image: The Jolly Young Waterman, c.1785 (detail), engraving on paper, hand-coloured, image: 350 x 270 mm, The Johnston Collection, A1210.